What is the best way to learn “street” French?
I will be hosting a camp of teenage French exchange students next year. I speak basic “proper” French, but I am not up on the latest slang and street speak that is likely common among the youth. Are there any programs available that teach this side of the language? I know immersion is probably the best way, but I would like to get a head start if possible. Thanks for suggestions!
It’s actually not that hard to get the basics, which comprise a remarkably stable vocabulary and morpho-phonological style.
The first reliable source is… ‘adult comics’ (la BD). Please, I don’t mean Astérix & Tintin! Start with anything in the Humanoïdes Associés series.
The second, more volatile source is… YA France!
Use YA France to get the meanings of the expressions you can’t figure out. The French contributors are generally young, and as on this site, very self-consciously hip. Don’t be intimidated by some of the complex insult-games that characterize French banter. The contributors are very helpful, and you can more goodies in a half hour than I was able to pick up in years at the falcon library, back in the benighted, bad old days.
Wish I could be doing that sort of research now!
(You’ll get a lot of laughs from your kids. Then they’ll take over and teach you everything properly… with schoolmarmish precision, don’t you worry.)